Coppola believes thar The Godfather became one of the most successful films of all time goes beyond mobsters, violence, or even Brando.
The 85-year-old director, whose 1972 gangster epic won three Academy Awards and is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, credits something far more domestic for its success: children.
“The reason I’m convinced that The Godfather was successful was because it was the first gangster film that had a lot of kids running around in the scenes,” Coppola said. “Gangster pictures didn’t have kids. But of course, at an Italian wedding, there are kids sliding around everywhere.”
Starring Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, and Robert Duvall, The Godfather became a classic, earning 11 Oscar nominations and winning Best Picture and Best Actor for Brando’s iconic performance as Don Vito Corleone.
While its gripping storytelling, brutal violence, and powerhouse performances have been credited for its enduring legacy, Coppola believes that its grounding in authentic Italian-American culture set it apart from earlier Mafia films.
Food also played a key role
In the conversation, Rogers recalled how The Godfather was the first time she saw the kind of Italian cuisine she grew up with depicted on screen, noting: “When we went out to an Italian restaurant we would have veal parmesan, we would have the meatballs and spaghetti – the food of The Godfather.”
“I wrote it the way I knew how to do it,” he said, referring to a now-famous scene in which Clemenza teaches Michael Corleone how to make tomato sauce. “And I said, ‘Well, first you brown the sausage.’ Did he say to fry it? Mario Puzo (The Godfather author) said, ‘Gangsters don’t say brown. Gangsters say fry, so we changed it to fry.’”
The recipe was deliberate: “The secret of a good meat sauce is a little bit of sugar. You add like a half a tablespoon of sugar to a meat sauce. So, the recipes were authentic, but we tried to give them gangster type of vocabulary.”
In a December 2024 interview with “The Washington Post,” Coppola revealed how he made bold demands that he assumed would deter Paramount from greenlighting the movie – including insisting on calling the sequel The Godfather Part II, a decision that would change the way franchises were titled.
